Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Pfizer Inc/Warmer-Lambert Co. Essay
Pfizer is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in United States. Its headquarters are in New York City and it is the owner of the drug Lipitar, an atorvastatin which is used to lower cholesterol in the blood. The company produces a big range of other precuts. Pfizer acquired Warmer-Lambert in 2000. The two had been the leading companies in the research based pharmaceuticals. In 1999 Pfizer had been named the fastest growing pharmaceutical company in its industry. Warmer-Lambert had been the Second (http://www.pfizer.com/home/). Warner-Lambert also deals with pharmaceuticals. The company has grown through acquisition which started in 1962 when it acquired American Chide Company which produced gums and mints. American Chide Company was the owner of the Adams brand which was well known around the world. The merger between Pfizer and Warmer-Lambert was as a result of observation of the market trends in the industry and in the global economy. The global market has been characterized by slow growth. The market was not expanding at the same rate as it has before. It seemed as if it was experiencing a slack in growth. Thus for the companies to continue operating profitability there was need to capture a bigger share of the market and reduce competition. Because the market was not expanding at a good rate expansion of the companies’ operations could only be possible through taking over a bigger share of the existing market. This called for greater and more effective efforts in competition (Mercola J. 2000). One way to gain competitive advantage is through cost cutting and concerted efforts. Merging the two fastest growing companies in the industry could effectively achieve this. Both companies were strong players in the market and combining power gave them a force that could enable them acquires additional share of the market from the other competitors. Merging also could enable the companies make concerted efforts in marketing and other ventures hence saving on cost. Cost reduction will help the companies gain competitive advantage in the market (http://www.secinfo.com/dsVsj.599.htm#1stPage). Expiration of a number of key patents was another major trend in the market. Both of the companies are research based and had been holding patents which had been key to their operations. Expiry of these patents meant the companies were loosing their hold in the market. Many other competitors were due to come in the market.   Entry of additional competitors could inflate costs and m ay lead to reduction of profits. Merging could help the companies to cut on this cost increase and compete more effectively in the market. Research and development costs were increasing at a higher rate. The significance of research and development was gaining new heights in the modern business environment. Because of the high competition and the rapidly changing business conditions the need for new innovations in operations and products has increased. More efforts and investment in research and development have been necessitated. These together with other factors have led to significance increase in Research and development costs. Both Pfizer and Warmer-Lambert are research based and merging them will enable them collaborate in Research and hence reduce cost effectively. Through their combined efforts the companies will be able to do more effective research. The role of e-commerce in business is changing significantly with many more business transactions being carried out though e-commerce. There is increased used of technology both in research and in doing business. The way business is conducted have greatly been affected by e-commerce. Thus, the companies had to change so as to utilize the effects of e-commerce for their benefits in the long run. (http://www,secifo.com/dsvsj/599.htm) There are several factors that motivated Pfizer Inc. to merge with Warmer-Lambert Co. Each of the companies had its motivational factors by generally both companies need to stabilize them product portfolio and reduce the dependence on some few key products. (http://www.secifo.com/dsvsj.599.htm). Another motivating factor was the increased need of increasing their rate of growth. Other factors that motivated the merger included increased in revenue, better research and development (R&D) and more cost cutting. Terms of transaction Pfizer paid a premium of 34% to Warmer-Lambert in the merger that resulted to Pfizer and Warmer-Lambert combining to form the largest pharmaceutical company in the world at that time. Shareholders of Warmer-Lambert got 2.75 shares of Pfizer common stock for each share of common stock held in Warmer-Lambert. The Warmer-Lambert shares were valued at $98.31 per one unit by the closing prices of October 1999 against $ 35.75 per one unit of Pfizer shares by the closing price of February 4, 2000. This represented a premium of 34% (http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=105&STORY=/www/story/06-19-2000/0001246843) The company expected to have combined annual revenue of approximately $28 billion. The company expects a 13% growth on compounded annual revenue and 25% growth in earnings (The Birmingham Post). The expected market capitalization is more than $230 billions. After the merger 61% of the new company will be held by the Pfizer shareholders while the remaining 39% will be held by the Warmer-Lambert shareholders (http://www.pfizer.ca/english/newsroom/press%20releases/default.asp?s=1&year=2000&releaseID=29). The valuation of the target firm can be done as: calculation of the future value of the company FV = PV (1+2)n From this we can be able to calculate the valuation of the target company using DPV = FY / (1+a) n Where FV = Future value DV = Present value I = opportunity cost N = no of years FV = $ 90 billion x (1+0.01) 1 90 x 1.01 $ 90.9 billions. After getting the future value, the discounted present value can be calculated as 90.9 billions / (1+14%) 1 14% is got by adding the growth rate representing the opportunity cost and the risk factor which we assume to be 1% 90.9 / (1.0 + 0.14)1 (90.9 / 1.14) 79.74 billions. In the valuation there are several assumption made. One of the assumptions is that the risk factor is equivalent to one percent. The other assumption is that the opportunity cost is Warmer-Lambert merging with Pfizer is equivalent to the growth rate expected. Thus the assumed discount rate is expected to be 14% that is, combining the opportunity cost and the risk factor. Another assumption made I s that the future value is calculated after only one year thus making the period n to be equal to 1. There are several risks that come with making the above assumptions. If the actual risk factor of the market is different from the assumed risk factor of one percent then the outcome of the valuation will not be accurate. This is risk as it may give a wrong impression of the effect of a decision, for example the decision of Warmer-Lambert to merge with Pfizer      Another risk is inherent because of the assumption that the opportunity cost is equal to the growth rate expected. In the real business environment this may results that are not accurate. This may lead to making a decision based on wrong information. This may consequently lead to difficulties in the company or loss to the owners of the company. Pfizer mission have been to emerge as the leader in the pharmaceutical industry by the stunt of the new millennium. The company had aimed at becoming the most valued company to all its stakeholders who included patients, doctors, insurers, investors and business partners.  To achieve this, the company is committed to offering services of value to the stakeholders (Huff, A. Huff J. and Barr P; 2000). To ensure that Pfizer remained of value to the stakeholder the company was committed to innovation so as to provide products of value to its customers. The company realized that innovation was what could enable tit to continue being relevant to needs of its customers in the long run. As the customer needs were changing the company had to keep innovating to enable it to satisfy the needs of these customers. Pfizer in this regard was committed to continued Research and development productivity. Much effort and finances were invested in research and development so as to produce more relevant products in the market. Pfizer strategy of success in the market was sustaining growth of existing products and expanding the range of products through innovations. This innovation was facilitated by increasing productivity of research and development (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1999_Feb_1/ai_53672006 ). Pfizer’s acquisition of Warmer-Lambert was a major and useful step in the Company’s strategy toward attainment of its mission (http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5212317/Pfizer-Driving-Performance-Through-Growth.html).. Acquisition of Warmer-Lambert by Pfizer was aimed at encouraging Business development. There are many benefits that this merger could help Pfizer to achieve. These benefits all worked for Pfizer in its quest to create the most valued pharmaceutical company to all its stakeholders. Acquisition of Warmer-Lambert helped Pfizer to get access to patent that Warmer-Lambert held. Warmer-Lambert held some patents and so upon the merge the two companies could benefit from the patents. Considering that the market condition was characterized by expiry of key patents meaning each of the company’s advantage of holding patents was slowly decreasing. Thus, combining gave the two companies a great advantage as the new company could hold more patents (http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/M-R/McKinnell-Henry-A-Jr-1943.html). Pfizer acquisition could also lead to the company getting access to new and racial technologies in the other firm. Each of the company was developed in its own way and had technological capabilities that were unique to its operations. This technology was in the form of processes and platforms which facilitated production and innovation. Combining these unique capabilities from two companies gave the resultants much power and benefits which could be denied from utilization of these technologies. Access to both technologies by one company gave it synergy thus compounding the benefits to be derived from the technologies. This synergetic combination of technology could help Pfizer advance its strategy of producing new lines of products through innovation. This technology could also help the company to sustain growth of its existing products (Aitkin M. and Baskaran S. 2000) As technology is a major component to research and development, access to new technology could boost Pfizer’s efforts in research and development. This boost in research and development could help the company to significantly reduce the cost of innovation. Consequently, reduction in cost of innovation could lead to reduction of the overall cost and so boost profits of the company. Reduction in costs could also help the company reduce the prices it charged for the product. Reduction in the prices could lead to increase in sales as well as increasing the access of the products by greater number of customers. An increased access of the precuts by many more customers will help to serve their need by the company and thus meeting the main aim of the company that is making it the most valued company to various stakeholders. The acquisition by Pfizer helped the company to expand its products line. Acquiring Warner-Lambert made Pfizer the company with the broadest portfolio in the industry. The company had products in various categories which included women health, central nervous system disorders as well as in many other categories. This was in line with the company’s aim of achieving a broad range of product instead of relying on a narrow range of products. The acquisition of Warmer-Lambert also gave Pfizer a big number of new products. I had eight products in the year of acquisition which brought in more than $1 billion in sales in that year. This was a great achievement for Pfizer, a company that was committed to increasing the contribution of innovation and research and development productivity. The achievement gave the company a boost toward attaining its overall aim. Combining the research operations of Pfizer and those of Warmer-Lambert produced the largest Research and development budget in the pharmaceutical industry. The new company had a budget of $4.78 billion set aside for research and development. The scientific staff of the company was more than twelve thousand. This showed the commitment to innovation and increased Research and development productivity (http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/01/23/ap4565943.html). Acquisition of Warmer-Lambert gives Pfizer much regard in the world and makes it the most productive in sales and marketing in the industry. This increases the reputation of the company among the stakeholders. The company also acquires some of brands which are highly regarded in the world. These brands Include Schick and Zaritac 75 http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/external/ibd.morningstar.com/quicktake/standard/client/shell/AP707.html?ticker=PFE&valid=NO&MP=FP&pageidx=1&pageitemidx=2            Combination of Pfizer and Warner-Lambert the two fastest growing companies in the world in the pharmaceutical industry produces a large organizational with great might. This enables the new company to have strong presence in major international market. Because of its power, the organization will be able to conquer new markets and compete effectively (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/633782.stm). Test of merger performance. a) The target, Warner-Lambert Company had a market capitalization of $60 billions in 1999. The acquirer, Pfizer had a market capitalization of $148.074 billions in that year (Financial Times 1999) After the merger between Pfizer and Warner-Lambert the new company had a market capitalization of $263,996 millions in 2001 (Financial times 10th May 2001). Before the merger Pfizer and Warner-Lambert had a total market of capitalization of $208.074 billions in 1999. After Pfizer acquired Warner-Lambert their total market capitalization was 263.99 billions in May 2001. This was a major increase in only one year after the merger.            The increase in the market capitalization after the acquisition signifies that it was beneficial. The merger was value enhancing in the short run for the investors who held shares in the company (Pryor F. 2001) b) After the merger of Pfizer Inc with Warner-Lambert Company the market reacted favorably to the new company. The combined market share increased from 7.8 percent to 8.2 percent after the merger (Http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/M-R/McKinnel-Henry-A-Jr-1943.htm/). The total Revenue of the company in the subsequent year increased by 11 percent to $29 billion and the income rose by 10.9 percent to $7.8 billions as compared to year 2000 performance.            On February 1 the market price for Pfizer stock was $32.12 by closing. After the acquisition of Warner-Lambert the share prices rose steadily to a close of $48.00 in 1st June 2000. This indicates that in the short run the market was favoring the merger between the two companies (Http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/historical.asp?symbol=DFE)            Generally the market reacted favorably to the merger in the short run. The market prices rose, the revenue and income rose as well as market capitalization. c) Performance of the merger by return to shareholders.            The merger between Pfizer and Warner-Lambert indicated good performance in the short run. The two giant companies merged to form one very powerful company. The good performance was reflected in the market prices of the new company shares as well as in the market share revenue and earnings. The returns to shareholders also increased in the year that followed the merger.            In 2001 a year after the merger the earnings of Pfizer grew considerably to reach 1-22 per share (http://www.thestreet.com/tech/adamfeuerstein/10005524.html)            In 2002 the earnings per share was $1.46 Revenue was $32.29413. This indicated a positive growth. It showed that the merger between the two giants was paying off for the second year consequently.            In 2003 the earnings fell to 0.54 indicating a negative growth. Revenue was $44.73614. This showed a slump in the benefit that had been derived from the merger in the previous year. Though the performance of Pfizer improved the years that followed the performance of 2003 were so discouraging and brought fear that the merger may not bring as much benefits as it had been expected earlier.            In general the performance of the merger was positive to returns to the shareholders. It worked to improve the wealth of the shareholders by increasing the earnings per share and market capitalization. This was possible as the company was able to cut on cost, increase market share and consequently increase Revenue. http://www.pfizer.com/files/annualreport/2004/financial/financial2004.pdf.) Evaluation and prognosis of merger between Pfizer and Warner-Lambert. a) M&A effects on Pfizer’s long term position in its product market areas. There had been both positive and negative effects experienced as a result of the merger between Pfizer and Warner-Lambert.            The short run was characterized by very encouraging positive results. These results showed that the company was achieving its goal of becoming the most valued pharmaceutical company to all its stakeholders. The positive effects were evident in the performance of the company. Immediately after the merger with Warner-Lambert, the stock prices shot up, the revenue soared and earnings increased. The market capitalization increased significantly. All the indicators showed that the company was headed for excellence in all aspects in the industry. It was able to increase its market share to a bigger percentage than the combined market share of the companies before the merger.            However, in the long run Pfizer performance does not reflect the earlier exhibited positive growth. There had been a slack in the trend of growth that had been observed in the short run after the merger with Warner-Lambert. The merger between the two giant companies which had been declared the first and second fastest growing companies in the pharmaceutical industry was aimed at creating one giant company with great power to foster increase growth and development. The goal was to establish strong international presence in all major markets in the industry. Merging with Warner-Lambert made the new company the biggest in the industry with a huge budget of Research and development (Knack R. 2000).            Glaxo merged with Smith Kline to form GlaxoSmithkline a company that was bigger than Pfizer after acquiring Warner-Lambert. Thus the leadership role that Pfizer wanted to have was overtaken. The competitive advantage that had accrued to Pfizer as the largest company in the industry with ability to carry out costly researches and conquer new markets as well as release many new markets, diminished. Though Pfizer tried to fight further by putting more efforts through other acquisition it never gave much impact. Pfizer acquired Pharmacia but the impact was not as big as when it acquired Warner-Lambert (Ramrattan L. and Szenberg M. 2006).            The performance of Pfizer has not been as was expected considering its performance in the short run shortly after the merger. The stock prices had risen to $46 but this is not the case now. The stock prices have been decreasing steadily from $46 in June 2000 to $22.33 as of Friday February 2008. This shows that, instead of improving the company is facing some difficulties in operation (http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshort/historical/asp?symbol=PFE). The company’s performance has been below the industry’s performance since 2005 to present. The performance is also below the S&P 500 index or performance of the pharmaceutical industry. (http://www.thestreet.com/tech/adamfeuerstein/10005524.html). Homer Pfizer has struggled to restructure its operations and remain relevant in the market. This restructure was in various operations of the company and even in the leadership. The chief executive officer was changed (http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/M-R/McKinnell-Henry-A-Jr-1943.html).            The declining performance of Pfizer had been characterized by loss of some share of the market thus reducing the size of the market it had captured in 2000 after the merger. Pfizer, after much restructuring and leadership of a new CEO, have managed to remain one of the biggest in the industry with a market capitalization of $152,510 millions. The leading company in this industry is Johnson & Johnson which have a market capitalization of $180,004 millions. Pfizer is the second and Glaxo Smithkline PLC is the third with a market capitalization of $132,384 million (http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/external/ibd.morningstar.com/quicktake/standard/client/shell/AP707.html?ticker=PFE&valid=NO&MP=FP&pageidx=1&pageitemidx=2).            Generally, the merger of Pfizer and Warner-Lambert helped Pfizer to gain some crucial benefits that helped the company to establish itself better in the market place. The population, Research and development muscle and acquisition of significant patents were major boosts for Pfizer. By acquiring Warner-Lambert, Pfizer got 100% ownership of the Lipitar patent which was one of the major products that have contributed to Pfizer good performance. However this have been in the short run and for the company to establish a firm long lasting position in its product market will require adoption of another strategy which will produce more long term benefits (Cerami C. 2000). b) Major changes to strategic decisions and directions to improve performance and prospects. There are some various changes that the Pfizer Inc can undertake so as to improve its performance in the short run and in the long run. Technology use. Pfizer can adopt a more purposeful use of technology to improve its performance. Technology is a powerful business tool which can be very useful in turning performance of a company round. Technology can be used in research, production of products, management and administration and in marketing (Du Boff R. 2000). In the modern world online commerce is rife and the companies utilize this opportunity for marketing its products to more areas of the world. The company should adapt a technology strategy which should be aimed at establishing new products, managing operations, establishing new markets and increasing competitive advantage ion the already established markets. Technology can improve operations of the company by better using the technology to manage information and communication in the company as well as establishing controls in the work. These are the aspects of the company that will help it to cut on administration costs as well as achieve more efficiency and hence increasing customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction will in turn lead to improved sales and profitability of the company (Beltran L. 2000). Technology can also achieve a lot in production. Adapting high technology may be expensive at cost but the benefit derived will be major and long lasting. Besides that, good technology will lead to improved efficiency in production which will consequently lead to reduction in cost and improvement in quality of the products (Carey D and Ogden D. 2004). Explore new market Instead of depending on the already established market, Pfizer should put more effort in market research so as to determine other potential markets for its products. Earlier entry will give the company an upper hand than its competitors in the new market. Technology can be used to help in assessing the potential of these markets and also in identifying their specific needs so as to develop the products required for that market. This will enable the company to continue being relevant to more people of the world and thus further its effort of being the most valued pharmaceutical company to all the people of the world.            Other efforts should be put to explore all potential markets so as to ensure all feasible opportunities available are utilized for the benefit of the company. The company should keep on evaluating its market and the industry. The market conditions in the modern world are characterized by rapid and more unpredictable changes and thus for a company to survive the instability that comes with unpredictable markets a lot of efforts have to be put in market scanning and evaluation of the industry. Consequently if a company want to be the leader in its industry a lot more have to be done. The company besides scanning the market has to put up a strategy that will help it to manage change effectively as well as project the market with a bigger degree of certainty and accuracy. The company should always be ahead of others and so should apply proactive measures instead of waiting to react to issues. Product range. The company should not rely on a few main products for its success in business. The company has a big range of products which should be marketed well so as to establish themselves better in the market and thus earn the company much revenue. Most of the products of the company can do better if more efforts can be used to market the products. The company should make up a marketing strategy aimed at conducting intensive marketing of all products. This will help the company to increase revenue got form all products instead of relying on revenue from a few products. Marketing can be done by utilizing emerging aspects of the market conditions. An example of such aspects includes electronic commerce. Pfizer can put up a strategy of conducting intensive online marketing and then conduct sales through electronic commerce. Pfizer should also try to market its image to European and American authorities as this will give it more easier job when it comes to lobbying for certification of new products. These measures will help the company avert problems that it had faced in the past due to delay in approval of some of its new products (Dubois W. 2003). Quick approval of products will help the company to start benefiting from its investment in the product as early as possible. Early approval of a prod7uct will also help to reduce the opportunity cost that comes up with such delays Acquisition Pfizer should reconsider its strategy of acquisition so as to gain dominance in the market. Though acquisition brings a lot of benefits, there are equally big costs involved from experience the benefits are not very long term so Pfizer should examine new strategies instead of being invested through acquisition can be invested in research of a potential market. Reference: Aitkin M Baskaran S.  Lamarre E. Silber M. Waters S. A License to Cure. The McKinsey Quarterly, 2000. Associated press. Market performance. Retrieved on February 15, 2008 from http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/external/ibd.morningstar.com/quicktake/standard/client/shell/AP707.html?ticker=PFE&valid=NO&MP=FP&pageidx=1&pageitemidx=2 BBC. Drug giants merge. Retrieved on February 15, 2008 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/633782.stm Beltran L. (2000). Earnings Growth Redefined. Black Enterprise, Vol. 30, July 2000 Business wire. Warner-Lambert announces Goodes to retire.  Retrieved on February 15, 2008 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1999_Feb_1/ai_53672006 Businessweek. Earnings. Retrieved on February 15, 2008 from http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/earnings/earnings.asp?symbol=PFE Carey D. Ogden D. (2004). The Human Side of M & A: How CEOs Leverage the Most Important Asset in Deal Making. Oxford University Press. Cerami C. Is Bigger Really Better? Insight on the News, Vol. 16, March 6, 2000. Du Boff R.(2000) Herman E. Mergers, Concentration, and the Erosion of Democracy Monthly Review, Vol. 53, May 2000. Dubois W. (2003). Drug Research, the Extraterritorial Application of FDA Regulations, and the Need for International Cooperation. Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, Vol. 36, 2003. Financial times May 10, 2001. Special reports. Retrieved on February 15, 2008 from Forbes.com. Pfizer 4Q profit falls but beat view. Retrieved on February 15, 2008 from http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/01/23/ap4565943.html FTC Grants Final Clearance for Pfizer/Warner-Lambert Merger, Transaction Completed Today. Retrieved on February 15, 2008 from http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=105&STORY=/www/story/06-19-2000/0001246843 Goliath. Driving performance through growth. Retrieved on February 15, 2008 from http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5212317/Pfizer-Driving-Performance-Through-Growth.html http://specials.ft.com/ft500/may2001/FT36H8Z8KMC.html http://www.pfizer.com/files/annualreport/2004/financial/financial2004.pdf http://www.pfizer.com/home/ http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/M-R/McKinnell-Henry-A-Jr-1943.html Huff, A. Huff J. and Barr P; (2000). When Firms Change Direction. Oxford University Press, 2000. Knack R. Pfizer Fords a River. Planning, Vol. 66, June 2000 Mercola J. (2000). Pfizer to buy Warner-Lambert for $90 billion. Retrieved on February 15, 2008 from http://www.mercola.com/2000/feb/13/pfizer_warner_lambert.htm Pfizer. Annual reports 2004. Retrieved on February 15, 2008 from Pfizer. Pfizer and Warner agree to merger. Retrieved on February 15, 2008 from http://www.pfizer.ca/english/newsroom/press%20releases/default.asp?s=1&year=2000&releaseID=29 Pfizer. Retrieved on February 15, 2008 from Pryor F. (2001). Dimensions of the Worldwide Merger Boom. Journal of Economic Issues, Vol. 35, 2001. Ramrattan L. Szenberg M. (2006) Global Competition and the United States Pharmaceutical Industry. American Economist, Vol. 50. Referenceforbusiness.com. McKinnell-Henry. Retrieved on February 15, 2008 from Securities and Exchange Council. Facing our future together. Retrieved on February 15, 2008 from http://www.secinfo.com/dsVsj.599.htm#1stPage The Birmingham Post (England). Pfizer Looks to Global Leadership after Pounds 57bn Takeover of Warner-Lambert. February 8, 2000 The street.com. Pfizer keeps its outlook on positive side. Retrieved on February 15, 2008 from http://www.thestreet.com/tech/adamfeuerstein/10005524.html
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Accounting Essays – BT Cashflow Changes
BT Cashflow Changes.BT Group ( BT ) is the taking UK company supplying landline telecommunication services and equipment. It besides had the nomadic telecommunication concern which was later sold as MMO2. After the sale of nomadic concern, BT ‘s profile has now changed from a growing company to a mature hard currency bring forthing company. A )Fiscal public presentationThe most common nonsubjective appraisal of the fiscal public presentation of a house is the return it generates on its assets and the measure and quality of the returns. Measure is measured by the absolute and per centum alteration in entire net incomes. The net income and loss history of an administration and its analysis are the premier and first indexs of a house ‘s fiscal public presentation. The latest one-year consequences of BT is for the period stoping 31 March 2005. Appendix I shows the sum-up of cardinal net income and loss figures over the last three old ages. BT ‘s turnover and net income after revenue enhancement in 2005 have increased as compared to 2004 but are still lower than those in 2003. The turnover has declined by 5.7 % merely whereas net income after revenue enhancement has declined by 32.7 % over the two twelvemonth period. This shows that the concern has really low variable costs which is in line with the heavy fixed cost investings usually made by telecommunication companies in set uping their webs and subsequent really low variable costs in transporting informations. While turnover increased in 2005, runing net incomes have declined. This indicates that the concern is confronting some pricing force per unit areas or is passing more on advertizement as the operating net income declined by 0.5 % merely. BT ‘s 2005 net income after revenue enhancement was & A ; lb ; 1,820m and was well higher than & A ; lb ; 1,406m. Though the absolute net income is really high figure compared to most of the concerns and indicates that the company is in strong fiscal place, it besides shows that BT has high fiscal purchase. The company paid a important high involvement and if grosss and operating borders come under more force per unit area, it could hold problem paying involvement costs. BT is cognizant of this issue and has focused on cut downing its net debt. After confronting tough times in early 2000s, it has sold many old investings to raise money for refunding debt. BT ‘s portion monetary value rose after it announced its strategic determination to cut down net debt by raising money through divestments. The net involvement payments have declined from & A ; lb ; 1,439m in 2003 to & A ; lb ; 801m in 2005. Not merely that, the net involvement payment has declined from 49.5 % of operating net income to 29.0 % from 2003 to 2005. The decrease in net involvement as a per centum of operating net income is an of import betterment as it gives investors comfort that even if operating borders come under force per unit area, the company would still be able to run into its involvement liabilities. One speedy manner to analyze a company ‘s public presentation is to look at the net incomes per portion form. The net incomes per portion had besides a alteration form similar to that of net income after revenue enhancement. It foremost decreased from 31.4p in 2003 to 16.4p in 2004 before increasing to 21.4p in 2005. The 2005 addition in net incomes per portion highlights the betterment in public presentation. Though the net incomes did lessening in 2004, BT kept on increasing entire dividend paid to stockholders. This shows the direction ‘s religion in concern traveling frontward and its ability to run into higher dividend outlooks in future. The returns generated on assets is measured by Return on Capital employed ( ROCE ) . Appendix II shows the computation of ROCE for BT. BT had a healthy ROCE of 19.0 % and 20.7 % in 2004 and 2005. The quality of returns is measured by their consistence and by the spread of net incomes, i.e. , the per centum of net incomes being generated from different divisions and locations. The less trust of net incomes on any one division and/or location means the company is in better form to defy downswings in its markets. None of BT ‘s concern contributed more than 50 % in its turnover in the twelvemonth ended 31 March 2005 ( BT, 2005 ) . This indicates that BT Group is moderately good protected from the diminutions in a concern line. The state of affairs is somewhat different if we look at the operating net incomes where BT Wholesale division contributes more than 50 % of net runing net incomes. Any more border force per unit areas in this concern could cut down future net incomes. Most of BT ‘s net incomes originate from UK and hence it net incomes are susceptible to alterations in UK economic system. Fiscal placeThe fiscal place of a company covers its fiscal construction, its assets and liabilities, its liquidness and hazard direction attack ( Accounting Standards 2004/2005 ) . Appendix III gives the high spots of BT Group ‘s balance sheet from 2004 to 2005. The entire fixed assets have increased by & A ; lb ; 639m in the last twelvemonth. While entire fixed assets have increased, the entire current assets have decreased by & A ; lb ; 254m, so entire assets have increased by & A ; lb ; 385m. The lower addition in entire assets as compared to increase in fixed assets is chiefly due to diminish in hard currency and investings. The major alteration in fiscal construction has occurred on the liabilities side. The entire current liabilities have gone up by & A ; lb ; 3,938m due to increase in current loans and adoptions of & A ; lb ; 3,227m. This shows that BT is financing much more of its assets from current adoptions. The monolithic addition in current loans and adoptions has reversed the net current assets ( liabilities ) place. BT had net current assets of & A ; lb ; 2,027m in 2004 and had net current liabilities of & A ; lb ; 2,165m in 2005, a net lessening in current assets of & A ; lb ; 4,192m. While the current liabilities have increased, the long term creditors have decreased by & A ; lb ; 4,335m. If we merely look at long-run creditors, the decrease is impressive and it gives more assurance to the investors that company is in better fiscal place now. But when we combine the lessening in long term creditors with the addition in current liabilities, the net alteration is really less. And the fact that alterations in current liabilities is chiefly due to borrowing alternatively of addition in trade creditors means that the funding of assets has simply shifted from long term adoptions to short term adoptions. The current assets to current liabilities ratio has declined from 1.24 to 0.83 in the last one twelvemonth, a mark of concern in footings of liquidness particularly when the addition in liabilities is non chiefly due to higher trade creditors. Debt to equity ratio indicates the funding of assets. BT had entire debt of & A ; lb ; 13,697m in 2004 and the corresponding figure for 2005 was & A ; lb ; 12,589m, a lessening of & A ; lb ; 1,108m. If we now exclude hard currency and short term investings from entire debt, BT ‘s net debt was & A ; lb ; 8,425m and & A ; lb ; 7,786m in 2004 and 2005 severally. The net debt to book value of equity ratio declined from 2.75 in 2004 to 2.02 in 2005. This means that debt fundss about twice assets as being financed by equity. Higher sum of debt consequences in lower leaden mean cost of capital as debt is cheaper equity. But as BT reduces more debt, its leaden mean cost of capital will increase. The addition would be partly offset by lower cost of equity due to take down opportunities of bankruptcy. Hazard of bankruptcy is measured by involvement screen ratio which is defined as the ratio of hard currency available for involvement payments to net involvement. Appendix IV shows the EBITDA computation and involvement screen ratio. The involvement screen ratio has increased from 6.1 in 2004 to 7.0 in 2005. The healthy involvement screen ratio shows that BT has farther reduced the hazard of bankruptcy and is in better fiscal place now. The debt degree is now really much within manageable degrees and is more like a hard currency rich mature company. Companies usually tend to follow certain dividend tendency to signal market of their appraisal of future net incomes. Dividend declaration is besides portion of hazard direction as it is based on direction ‘s appraisal of future hard currency coevals and outgo outlooks. The hiking in dividend in 2004 and 2005 inspite of diminution in net incomes in 2004 shows the direction appraisal of future low hazards to hard currency flows. Fiscal AdaptabilityAn entity ‘s fiscal adaptability is its ability to take effectual action to change the sum and timing of its hard currency flows so that it can react to unexpected demands or chances ( Accounting Standards 2004/2005, page 26 ) . Appendix V shows the chief elements of amalgamate hard currency flow statement of BT Group. BT Group is bring forthing high sums of hard currency influx from operating activities. During the twelvemonth ended 31 March 2005, the company generated & A ; lb ; 5,900m of net hard currency from operating activities. BT is in telecommunication concern which demands comparatively high degree of absolute investings. It spent & A ; lb ; 2,408m on capital outgo during the twelvemonth ended 31 March 2005. Even if we believe that all of capital outgo was required under normal operations, BT was still left with & A ; lb ; 2,282m of excess hard currency in 2005. As we can see from the Appendix III that BT has now focused on refund of loans. During the last three old ages, the company has reduced adoptions by & A ; lb ; 7,395m. Though BT is able to bring forth important sum of hard currency before disposals but that was non plenty in 2003 and 2004 to refund loans. The company so sold some of its investings to bring forth hard currency for loan refunds. BT besides pays a important sum of dividend to its stockholders. So if its cyberspace hard currency from operations do diminish in future, it has still some buffer in footings of dividend payments to take attention of loan refunds. B )The aim of fiscal statement is to supply information about the coverage entity ‘s fiscal public presentation and fiscal place that is utile to a broad scope of users for measuring the stewardship of the entity ‘s direction and for doing economic determinations ( Accounting Standards, 2004, page 22 ) . The conformity of an entity ‘s fiscal studies with UK ‘s Accounting Standards can be gauged over two chief countries – content and format. Content is of import to give true and right image of a house ‘s fiscal public presentation and place. Different users need different information. Fiscal statements are used by investors to establish their investing determination. So it is of import that fiscal statements have the right content to assist accomplish this end. It is besides of import to hold right format of presentation. Investors are more likely to experience comfy if they see familiar presentation manner and can so measure the company easy. We will look at the content and major fiscal statements to see whether they comply with UK Accounting Standards. We will so besides at few extra notes to fiscal statements to see whether they are besides in line with true and just rule and give the readers a clear image of the entity. First of all we compare net income and loss statement with FRS 3 ‘Reporting fiscal public presentation ‘ . BT ‘s amalgamate net income and loss statement clearly shows the entire turnover and portion from joint venture and associates, and in making so gives more lucidity of its gaining base. The fiscal statement format is similar to the illustration formats shown in Accounting Standards 2004/2005. BT ‘s 2005 Annual Report nevertheless does n't demo portion of turnover and net incomes from discounted operations ( BT, 2005 ) . It is because BT did n't sell any concern in 2005. If we look at the 2002 Annual Report ( BT, 2002 ) , it shows the turnover and net incomes from discounted operations besides. The fiscal statement besides has statement of entire recognized additions and losingss in line with FRS 3 patterns. So the histories run into net income and loss statement UK Accounting Standards in footings of both content and format. We now compare BT ‘s hard currency flow statement with the format prescribed in FRS 1 ‘Cash flow statements ‘ . BT ‘s hard currency flow statement has non merely got all the headers but they are besides in the same order as mentioned in FRS 1. BT study besides gives sub-categories under the major headers and hence is a echt attempt to educate investors every bit much as possible on the coevals and usage of hard currency flows. BT hard currency flow statement uses the format prescribed for the ‘Group ‘ histories. The notes to fiscal statement besides has detailed describing on rapprochement of operating net income to run hard currency flows, analysis of net debt, acquisition and disposals in line with formats for the ‘Group ‘ histories. The following subdivision we analyse is on segmental coverage and look into its comparison with SSAP 25 ‘Segmental Reporting ‘ . SSAP 25 says that a populace limited company should supply segmental analysis on lines of concern category and geographical location. The notes to fiscal statement subdivision in the 2005 Annual Report has a subdivision on segmental coverage wherein BT shows the turnover, runing profit/ ( loss ) and net assets/ ( liabilities ) of different concern lines. It besides provides the above informations based on the geographical location of contrary coevals. The above meets SSAP 25 demands and besides helps investors make a better judgement of hazards faced by BT. BT is in telecommunication concern where engineering alteration is rapid. BT has acquired many companies in recent old ages to maintain gait with the technological developments. So it is of import to analyze the acquisition policies and revelations are in line with the UK Accounting Standards. FRS 6 ‘Acquisitions and Mergers ‘ and FRS 7 ‘Fair values in acquisition accounting ‘ govern the acquisition accounting policies. BT ‘s one-year study under ‘Notes to fiscal statements ‘ gives elaborate revelation of entire and just value of the acquisitions made by it. BT ‘s fiscal statements non merely give the book and just value of acquisitions but besides a elaborate account of them for each acquisition. The clear and easy to understand format of fiscal statements and the deepness of information in them signals that BT non merely merely make the lower limit to run into UK Accounting Standards but besides follows them in true spirit. Appendix I – Highlight of BT Group ‘s net income and loss histories ( Beginning: BT Annual Report and Form 20-F ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Howwehavedone/Financialreports/Annualreports/AnnualReports.htm ) Appendix II – ROCE of BT Group ( Beginning: BT Annual Report and Form 20-F ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Howwehavedone/Financialreports/Annualreports/AnnualReports.htm ) Appendix III – Highlight of BT Group ‘s balance sheet ( Beginning: BT Annual Report and Form 20-F ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Howwehavedone/Financialreports/Annualreports/AnnualReports.htm ) Appendix IV – Interest screen ratio ( Beginning: BT Annual Report and Form 20-F ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Howwehavedone/Financialreports/Annualreports/AnnualReports.htm ) Appendix V – Highlight of BT Group ‘s hard currency flow statements ( Beginning: BT Annual Report and Form 20-F ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Howwehavedone/Financialreports/Annualreports/AnnualReports.htm ) Bibliography and mentions Accounting Standards 2004/2005 – Extant at 30 April 2004 ( 2004 ) ; Wolters Kluwer ( UK ) Limited. BT ( 2005 ) ; BT Annual Report and Form 20-F for the twelvemonth ended 31 March 2005 ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Howwehavedone/ Financialreports/Annualreports/AnnualReports.htm BT ( 2002 ) ; BT Annual Report and Form 20-F for the twelvemonth ended 31 March 2002 ;hypertext transfer protocol: //www.btplc.com/Sharesandperformance/Howwehavedone/Financialreports/Annualreports/Annualreportsarchive.htm
Monday, July 29, 2019
How to Write the Williams College Essays 2018-2019
Williams College is found tucked away in the idyllic college town of Williamstown, a liberal arts college renowned for its undergraduate education. Only 2000 students attend Williams, allowing for a stellar focus on its undergraduates and a 7:1 student-faculty ratio. Williams was founded in 1793, and through its 225 years of existence, has accrued a deep history and a wealth of tightly held traditions. Williams College has consistently been ranked the nation’s top liberal arts college by the US News College Ranking. Williams is also highly selective: for their class of 2022, the college only admitted 12% of its applicants. Notable alumni include former president James A. Garfield, composer Stephen Sondheim, and photographer Walker Evans. The early decision deadline for Williams is on November 15th, and the regular decision deadline is on January 1st. Choose one of the following: (300 words) Option 1: At Williams we believe that bringing together students and professors in small groups produces extraordinary academic outcomes. Our distinctive Oxford-style tutorial classesâ€â€in which two students are guided by a professor in deep exploration of a single topicâ€â€are a prime example. Each week the students take turns developing independent workâ€â€an essay, a problem set, a piece of artâ€â€and critiquing their partner’s work. Focused on close reading, writing and oral defense of ideas, more than 60 tutorials a year are offered across the curriculum, with titles like Aesthetic Outrage, Financial Crises: Causes and Cures, and Genome Sciences: At the Cutting Edge. Imagine yourself in a tutorial at Williams. Of anyone in the world, whom would you choose to be your partner in the class, and why? Option 2: Each Sunday night, in a tradition called Storytime, students, faculty, and staff gather to hear a fellow community member relate a brief story from their life (and to munch on the storyteller’s favorite homemade cookies). What story would you share? What lessons have you drawn from that story, and how would those lessons inform your time at Williams? Option 3: Every first-year student at Williams lives in an Entryâ€â€a thoughtfully constructed microcosm of the student community that’s a defining part of the Williams experience. From the moment they arrive, students find themselves in what’s likely the most diverse collection of backgrounds, perspectives, and interests they’ve ever encountered. What might differentiate you from the 19 other first-year students in an entry? What perspective(s) would you add to the conversation with your peers? Choosing a single essay may seem daunting at first, as you may wonder if you are choosing the perfect essay prompt that will convey yourself to the reader in the best way possible. However, just like in the Common App personal statement, you may not necessarily have to â€Å"choose†your essay. After looking through the prompts and brainstorming parts of your identity and passions that you want to show to the admissions team, you will easily be able to answer any one of the questions, as all three prompts revolve around your personal story, interests, and ambitions, albeit in slightly different fashions. As a result, the prompt choice becomes much less important than distilling your nuances and complexities onto the page. Option 1: At Williams we believe that bringing together students and professors in small groups produces extraordinary academic outcomes. Our distinctive Oxford-style tutorial classesâ€â€in which two students are guided by a professor in deep exploration of a single topicâ€â€are a prime example. Each week the students take turns developing independent workâ€â€an essay, a problem set, a piece of artâ€â€and critiquing their partner’s work. Focused on close reading, writing and oral defense of ideas, more than 60 tutorials a year are offered across the curriculum, with titles like Aesthetic Outrage, Financial Crises: Causes and Cures, and Genome Sciences: At the Cutting Edge. Imagine yourself in a tutorial at Williams. Of anyone in the world, whom would you choose to be your partner in the class, and why? If you choose this first prompt, there are a couple of points you should make in the essay. First, your possibility of options are infinite in this promptâ€â€as a result, make sure the person and class you settle on reveal important parts of your own background and interests. You definitely want to describe why you chose the person and class you did, but make sure to return the focus back to you, and how you could grow through interacting with this person. The goal of this essay is to allow you to highlight one of your academic interests, so don’t stray too far by fawning over your chosen partner. Here are some brainstorm questions you should think about before writing: You should look up the list of tutorials offered for the 2018-2019 school year as a source of valuable information, which is also a good starting place for sparking ideas. If there is a course pertinent to your own interests as well as the person you choose, feel free to mention the course. However, don’t feel limited to these classes, and make up a class topic of your own which you feel like your partner would be an excellent collaborator in (in this case, it could be good to mention a professor whose research deals with the topic you want to focus on). One note of caution: be wary of choosing incredibly common historical figures: Julius Caesar, Michael Jordan, Abraham Lincoln, Oprah, etc. If you do so, make sure to have a fresh, unique, and persuasive set of reasons as to why you would pick this person. You should also be careful if you decide to talk about very controversial leaders and politicians, past or present. Anything that could evoke strong emotional responses in an outside reader could be risky. On the other hand, if the person you choose is not well known, give a sentence or two introducing to the reader the person’s significance. Example 1: Say you were particularly drawn to the course â€Å"Leaving the World Behind: The Literature of Reclusion†because you were always interested in both the relationship between technology and society and literature, your stated major. As a result, you would love to engage in a semester-long course with someone who grew up in an era without constant global communication. To do this, you bring out Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), someone whose texts you poured over while trying to find peace in your own solitude (to no avail). You and Saint Francis, who spent much of his life in solitude and solo travel, could spend each class discussing the relationship between the individual and society, and how this relationship has been negotiated throughout time and space. Example 2: You could also put a personal twist on the prompt. Say your parents immigrated from Korea, and your Korean identity makes a large portion of who you are. As a result, you choose your grandmother, an incredibly bright woman who fled from North Korea to South Korea as a teenager during the Korean War. As someone planning to study history in college, you want to make sure you learn about your family’s own history and how that fits into a larger framework of foreign policy and global politics. As a result, you would love to take â€Å"The Two Koreas†as a tutorial with your grandmother. You would study perceptions of both Koreas from different generations, as well as Koreans in Korea and Koreans living abroad. You also want to know yourself on a deeper level, especially through tracing a legacy of generational war trauma in your family. Example 3: Say after reading this prompt, instead of focusing on a class topic, you instead immediately think of a person to work with, this person being the Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez. You have read every single one of his novels, interviews, and essays, and yearn to pick the mind of someone you see as the world’s greatest storyteller. However, you wouldn’t want a tutorial class that focuses on his novels, or even the magical realist genre he worked in. Instead, you imagine studying Russian 19th century realist fiction with him, a genre of literature very different in style, but very similar in emotional insight, doing a comparative analysis of sorts. You would also get to hear the plethora of personal stories he could share. Example 4: Maybe in high school, you fell in love with Richard Feynman’s famous â€Å"Feynman Lectures on Physics,†which led you to eventually put your intended major as physics on the Common Application. You would love to take the â€Å"Applications of Quantum Mechanics†tutorial with Feynman, who you know to be not just a physicist, but someone with wide-ranging interests in things like Brazilian Samba music and the relationship between science and the government, specifically in his assistance in creating the atomic bomb. As someone who eventually wants to work in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, you want not just to grow deeper in your understanding of physics, but more broadly understand the different ways people configure meaning in the world, whether in physics or music or ethics. You find that Richard Feynman, who struggled with these questions his entire life, could help you get closer to these goals of yours. Option 2: Each Sunday night, in a tradition called Storytime, students, faculty and staff gather to hear a fellow community member relate a brief story from their life (and to munch on the storyteller’s favorite homemade cookies). What story would you share? What lessons have you drawn from that story, and how would those lessons inform your time at Williams? The second prompt is also incredibly open: talk about something that happened in your life. Of course, you want the story that you pick to have a greater significance beyond the simple narrative, whether this is a coming of age moment, a moment of realization and clarity, or a moment that has indubitably formed the person you are today. As for what constitutes a â€Å"brief story,†think about a singular episode that you could tell someone in person in around ten minutes. As to the last part of the prompt, â€Å"how would these lessons inform your time at Williams,†this could take various shapes and forms. Maybe this is simply being a more community-focused human being on campus, or maybe this could mean creating a campus organization that reflects what you learned, or maybe this means coming into Williams a more open-minded person. If your Common App essay delves into more serious themes involving your identities and your passions, you could possibly use this essay to reveal more lighthearted, fun elements of your personality. Whether or not you do this, the key here is to show, not tell, as you want your essay to read like a gripping campfire story. You could immerse the admissions reader with the present tense, â€Å"in the moment†narrative of your story, or you could use the past tense to evoke a more reflective mood.  As a side note, don’t forget the word â€Å"brief†hereâ€â€you probably don’t want an incredibly long-winded story detailing all your major trials and tribulations. Stick to one event that is illustrative of greater themes in your life. Dig into your past. Here are a few examples: Example 1: Say you had a poignant breakthrough moment with your father, with whom you never really had a strong relationship before. Your father, an ex-military, stoic man, never really shared his past with you, but one night you asked him about his days in the military, and he told you a hodgepodge of stories both thrilling and depressing. You learned so much about him that night, allowing you to piece together more of your own identity and where you came from. The lessons you learned that night, that vulnerability bridges relationships, would undoubtedly carry over to Williams, where you have the ability to form once-in-a-lifetime friendships. Example 2: This could also be a â€Å"summer shenanigan†type story if it was a particularly formative experience. Say you and your friends, on one particularly boring summer night, decided to buy goldfishes for many of your other friends. After showing up at your friends’ doors, you were met with equal amounts of shock and laughter, but each friend promised to take care of their fish. What started as a prank turned into a bonding moment where a group of friends collectively took charge of the lives of their goldfishes. You could then transition to talking about how this experience, in a weird way, mirrors the tight undergraduate experience provided at Williams, in regards to how everyone is together pursuing a common goal of learning about the world through a liberal arts curriculum. You also believe these ideas would transition well to a tight-knit cultural group on campus, which for you is Williams South Asian Student Association. Example 3: Maybe you are still learning the lessons of the story you choose, as the story itself has some unfilled pages. Say you came out to your parents, who immediately rejected you as their child. Talk about how, at the time of writing, you are still trying to negotiate your identity with your status in your family, even though your parents find your situation non-negotiable. You could talk about how, if you were afforded the opportunity to attend Williams and escape from your current surroundings, you could have clearer mental headspace, as well as be able to take part in a welcoming and inclusive environment. Submit your essay and we’ll get back to you with helpful edits. Option 3: Every first-year student at Williams lives in an Entryâ€â€a thoughtfully constructed microcosm of the student community that’s a defining part of the Williams experience. From the moment they arrive, students find themselves in what’s likely the most diverse collection of backgrounds, perspectives and interests they’ve ever encountered. What might differentiate you from the 19 other first-year students in an entry? What perspective(s) would you add to the conversation with your peers? In this â€Å"what unique things do you contribute to our school?†prompt, you have a few paragraphs to advocate for and brag about yourself. By no means, however, does this essay have to be a glorified achievements list. If you feel uncomfortable bragging about yourself, reframe the prompt as ultimately being candid about your background. You could also frame it as bragging about your family, or a community you were a part of, and using these groups as a way to illustrate your own identity formation. We can break down this prompt into the three mentioned facets of diversity: backgrounds, perspectives, and interests. These three obviously overlap with each other, as perspectives and interests often come out of background, but think about each of these three aspects and unearth the most compelling parts of yourself that you think makes you unique. However, don’t be dissuaded if you aren’t the best in the world at a certain activity, or come from a faraway country most people have not heard of. If you speak with candor and love for your roots and passions, a uniqueness in how you frame yourself will cut through to the readers. Even if you feel like your passion/story is common, with 300 words, you can more than adequately illustrate the complexity and uniqueness of your situation. Here are a few routes you can take with this prompt: Example 1: Say your primary interest is in math. Even though this interest is common to many, the reasons why math is so fascinating to you is more unique than just liking problem-solving. Instead, you are passionate about math pedagogy, specifically, how current primary and secondary school math education has been twisted and standardized to a point where you believe it is almost a completely different subject from the one you grew up loving. As a result, you started a math circle with middle school students, allowing them to explore the open-ended and creative side of math so different from algebra and geometry, and in the essay, you can use specific anecdotes with students who disliked school math but loved the math they did in their math circle. In regards to bringing diversity, you could talk about how you treat math as simultaneously a STEM and humanities field, and how this seamless fluidity between the two informs much of your personhood. Example 2: Say music and the performing arts are your primary interests, another set of common interests. Talk about your rocky experience with the indie band you started in high school, and how all of your preconceived notions of glory and greatness were crushed. You could transition into talking about how you learned from this failure, and how you feel ready to even possibly grab some Entry mates and start a band once more. Example 3: Say you’re a first generation immigrant who lives in New Mexico. You could talk about how you want to retain your cultural heritage although desiring at the same time to live in a completely foreign environment like New England. Coming from Latin America to New England by way of the American Southwest, your fashion and culture would immediately make you stand out from the other, largely coastal students. Example 4: Maybe you grew up as a racial, sexual, or economic minority in a community, in which you felt a constant brush of hostility. Although this may also not be entirely unique, maybe the community you grew up in was actually known to the country as an inclusive and progressive community, but your personal experience was anything but that. Example 5: If you do have a niche interest, such as lepidopterology (the study of moths and butterflies), and are an avid butterfly watcher, talk about why this activity is so important to you. Talk about the joy you feel after spotting a certain butterfly you’d been searching for hours for after traveling to a new environment, or the amazement you feel when looking at butterflies in a natural history museum. You could distill the core parts of this activity into a more generalized set of things you have learnedâ€â€in the case of lepidopterology, it could be dogged persistence, or the pleasure of immersing yourself into nature without technology, or how you found a community with other lepidopterologist who share your passion. Overall, after talking about your passion or background, make sure to explain why it is so significant to you, and how that would allow the students in your Entry to grow in their own worldviews. You could also talk with excitement about how you too would love to hear the different perspectives of all those in your Entry, and how the Entry system, in general, would allow you to experience the polar opposite of the cloistered, homogenous environment you grew up in. As you have seen, Williams College requires numerous supplemental essays, many of which you may struggle with. If you want professional help on your Williams application essays, click to learn about our College Apps Program . If you want to quickly edit your college essay, submit it to our Rapid Review program , and we’ll get it back to you quickly with comments from our expert team. How to Spend Your Summer as an Aspiring Engineer Future engineers, we see you. The movers, shakers, thinkers, and game-changers-to-be of the world. And you’ve prepared, too. Science olympiad and math league are old hat, whatever math you’re currently taking is one of your favorite classes, and you’ve probably tinkered with more odds and ends than you can remember. But then summer rolls around and school ends, and along with it goes all of the science, math, and outreach extracurriculars that operate when school’s in session. You now have this huge amount of free time that you can do practically anything with  while it may not seem like much on the surface, it’s actually a big opportunity in disguise. There’s nothing more an engineering college loves to see than a curious self-starter who’s not afraid to get his or her hands dirty, and taking initiative to enrich your own engineering portfolio during the summer is a good way to show the engineering adcoms just that. Of course, some of you already have things planned out, and that’s great! But for the people who are drawing a blank, who need some inspiration or ideas, this post is for you. Here’s a list of summer plans that we recommend for aspiring engineers  some drawn from our own experiences. Let’s get this one out of the way first since this is what usually comes to mind for people when they think about application-boosting summer experiences. This is essentially the better version of summer camp, where you go to a college and take college-level classes, or refine your skills through real-world practice. Point is, you’ll go somewhere that’s not home for the sole purpose of building your technical repertoire with a group of like-minded people  which is essentially what college is, for an engineer. And it’s immensely fun. Programs like Carnegie Mellon’s Pre-College and the University of California’s Summer School for Mathematics and Science are designed to train future engineers and scientists that will go on to use their skills in college and even to participate in research beyond that. Often, gaining admission to these programs is in itself a rigorous process, and can signal to colleges your skill and interest in the STEM subjects. Another good part about participating in these summer programs is that they can help you network and make connections with people in STEM  a good mentor relationship with a summer program’s professor, for instance, can make for a valuable recommendation letter when it comes application time. Other times, some of these program are also geared towards building leaders in the STEM fields, so they  can also double as a leadership extracurricular. However, not all of these programs are free  some of them may offer scholarships, but not all of them do. That’s the main drawback to this type of summer program; some of these programs may be just as expensive as paying summer tuition at these colleges. The good news, though, is that price is often inversely proportional to the prestige of the program; the less you pay to get in, the more impressive it looks on an application. In fact, you should be wary of expensive summer programs, as those are perceived as more of a sign of privilege on an application than your engineering capabilities. The go-getter: Learning a new (programming) language Coding is an important skill to have as an engineer today. If you’re going into software engineering, then it’s a given. If you’re a mechanical engineer, programs can be helpful in running simulations. If you’re analysing data, you’ll need something like Matlab. Computers are some of the most powerful engineering tools we have today, and to be able to use them freely is a valuable addition to any skillset. In fact, many engineering colleges now require their undergraduates to take at least one coding class as a graduation requirement. If you’re already a logical thinker (like many of you are), this shouldn’t be too hard. With the wealth of online tutorials, videos, APIs, forums, and other resources, all the information you need to master a new language is readily available. It might take a bit of practice and lots of trial and error, but it’ll be worth it in the end when you can create your own programs that make your life easier. To help you focus your efforts, you can try studying for a specific test; AP Compsci isn’t a bad choice, as getting a 5 on this test can get you out of many intro computing classes. Or you can set a personal project as your goal: an app, a website, a program that sets your alarms for you or makes your friend’s computer randomly play a YouTube video every six minutes  whatever floats your boat. Either of these pursuits can show up as a bright spot on any application, especially since your motivation for starting this pursuit (and completing it) was entirely intrinsic. It can also be good material for a personal statement, since honestly  how many people can go into college saying they’ve built their own app from scratch? The altruist: Teaching and sharing your knowledge Engineering is what builds the entire infrastructure of our modern society, and engineers can definitely change the world. But what about on a smaller scale? What about helping, mentoring, or inspiring one person at a time? Colleges like to admit community-builders, people who are willing to help other people out and people who can appreciate diversity. So, if you feel comfortable in your STEM skills and knowledge, why not spend a summer sharing it with others? Many summer educational camps and programs love having tutors work with younger children to try and foster an early interest in science and math. Science museums across the nation always welcome knowledgeable, enthusiastic tour guides who would love to answer questions for curious guests. Or you could even volunteer and start your own mentoring program  outreach is always important for STEM, and if you’re dedicated to making science and math more accessible to people, this might just put your interests in line with those of your ideal college. Sharing your knowledge for the sake of other people shows your interest in making positive, altruistic change in the world, and may also attest to your mentorship and social skills. While your intelligence and your academic ability are important to a college in deciding whether or not to admit you, who you are as a person also factors in greatly, as a result of holistic admissions. So in presenting yourself, applications-wise, it’s important to remember not to just show yourself as the student that adcoms want to see in their lecture halls, but the person that they would love to see around campus. Whether it’s by taking a summer off for a STEM program, teaching yourself a new skill, or by helping others out with the knowledge you have, you won’t just be outstanding in your stats alone  these summer experiences will show these colleges that you are the type of person that they’d want to see as an engineer at their institution.
Sunday, July 28, 2019
The Four Forces of Evolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
The Four Forces of Evolution - Essay Example In evolution, the population has a greater significance because it refers to the change in the characteristics of a population over many generations and not the individual change during their lifetimes (Fogiel 908). As stated earlier, an individual cannot evolve but a population can as allelic frequencies (genetic make up and the expression of the developmental potential) of a given population can change over time. This is called microevolution which accounts for the diversity of life on earth. But when do we become aware of evolution and how do we began to understand its concept? The molecular basis of evolution started with the discovery of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules in 1953. Through biological reproduction, each living organisms inherit a combination of genes from biological parents and creates a unique new individual (Haviland, Prins, Walrath, and McBride 27). Aside from this biological reproduction, creation theories from different religions around the world also expl ains the diversity of life. ... Mutation is the random alteration of genetic material that produces new variation (Haviland, Prins, Walrath, and McBride 40). With random mutations or variation, population can change over time in accordance with the changes that occurred in the environment because the creation of a new allele may create a modified protein for a new biological task. In humans, for instance, the only possible evolutionary mutations occurred in sex cells when mistakes occur during copying and cell division. Thus, this is in contrary with the layman’s conception of mutation and evolution as mutations and evolutions arise continuously in all species. Mutations have positive and negative effects but most of it are neutral in nature. Some of the negative effects are the results of the presence of mutant genes, a gene abnormality that leads to certain hereditary disorders like muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, Parkinson’s disease, etc. While cellular mutations directly involve genetic factors, e nvironmental factors may also play a vital role in the occurrence of mutation. Antibiotics, dyes, chemicals used in the preservation of food, and radiation are just a few examples. Research also suggests that the amount of stress a human can endure increases the mutation traits needed for adaptation (Haviland, Prins, Walrath, and McBride 40). Meanwhile, genetic drift refers to the evolutionary force of chance fluctuations of allele frequencies in the gene pool of a population (Haviland, Prins, Walrath, and McBride 41). In short, this refers to the changes at the population level because of â€Å"chance events†such as disasters that can kill a greater number of population. A perfect example of genetic drift is the founder effects – a case that
The impact of Brand Extension on Brand Personality. Caterpillar and Dissertation
The impact of Brand Extension on Brand Personality. Caterpillar and Burger King - Dissertation Example of Brand Extension of Burger King 34 Table 2: Success of Brand Extension of Caterpillar 35 Table 3: Model Summary of Burger King 36 Table 4: ANOVA and Coefficient Table of Burger King 36 Table 5: Model Summary of Caterpillar 37 Table 6: ANOVA and Coefficient Table of Caterpillar 38 Table 7: T-Test Table 39 Abstract This research investigates the impact of brand extension on the personality of a brand and for this purpose; two companies are selected to conduct this report. One of the companies is Caterpillar and the other is Burger King. This Impact of brand extension can be either negative or positive and this research test out the positive impact or negative impact of the brand extension of these two brands on their brand personality. The main objective of this research is to find the brand extension impact on the brand personality of Caterpillar and Burger King in such a way that each dimension of brand personality compared with the variable of brand extension. The approach that us ed in this research is Quantitative Approach and data is collected with the help of the Survey Questionnaire. The sample size of the research is 50 and respondents are selected from two areas of London that are Edgere and Wembley. The results are tested with the help of SPSS and Regression analysis. It is concluded from the result that the brand extension has a positive impact on the overall brand personality of the any company. The two companies taken in this research have a positive impact on their brand personality due to their brand extension. Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Background The strategy in which companies bring in products to the marketplace, with which they can make use of an existing brand name, is called brand extension. Brand extension of an existing brand has possible... The paper tells that the strategy in which companies bring in products to the marketplace, with which they can make use of an existing brand name, is called brand extension. Brand extension of an existing brand has possible advantages based on customer awareness and opinions concerning the existing product that is sell under that particular brand name as evaluated to introduce a new brand name. Brand extension is a very important brand approach to make the most of the value of brand influence. Brand extensions and brand personalities have become the most essential research areas since 1990 in the field of brand management. We try to tell the effect of the interaction between brand personality and similarity on brand extension evaluations. The customer’s evaluation for the brand determines the success of that brand. The success of the brand is very unsure and unsuccessful brand extensions can harm the parent brand that results in the significant loss of brand equity. The use of well-known brand names for launching the new product is one of the most commonly in use brand strategies. The brand extensions that are successful, depends on the customers perception of fit or similarity between the new extension and the parent brand. The studies reveal the relations between the parent brands and the extension groups: factors that affect the parent brand will affect the extension as well. Similarly, factors that control the extension group will affect the parent brand. Customers-evaluating brand extensions may modify their core values about parent brands, which may lead to a stronger or weaker brand positioning
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Finance 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words
Finance 6 - Essay Example Thus from the given data, Kd = (8.5%) (1-0.30) = 5.95% b. The cost of preferred stock is calculated by the following formula: Kp = Dp / [Pp (1-F)] Where, Kp = cost of preferred stock Dp = preferred dividend Pp= preferred stock price F= floatation cost (Brigham & Daves, 2009, p.330). From the data, Kp = 9/91 = 9.89% c. Cost of common stock (at constant growing rate) can be calculated by the following formula: Ks = (D1/P0) + g Where, Ks = cost of common stock D1 = Dividend at the end of the first year P0 = price of the stock at the beginning of the first year g = growth rate (Gitman, 2007, p.448). From the data, Ks = (0.75/15) + 0.06 = 11% d. Calculation of Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC): Capital Component Percentage of capital structure Cost Product (PercentageÃâ€"Cost) Debt 0.35 5.95% 2.08% Preferred Stock 0.05 9.89% 0.49% Common Stock 0.60 11% 6.60% WACC 9.17% Page 1 No. 2 Solution: Cost of retained earnings (Kre) = Ke (1-f) Where, Kre = cost of retained earnings Ke = cost of equity f = floatation cost (Kapil, 2011, p.278). Ke = (2.10/34) + 0.06 = 12% From the given data, Kre = 0.12 (1-2.38) = (16.56%) (negative) Cost of new common stock (Kn) = (D1/Nn) + g Where, Kn = cost of new issues of common stock D1 = Dividend at the end of first year Nn = net proceeds from the sale of new common stocks g = constant growth rate (Gitman, 2007, p.448) From the given data, Kn = (2.10/34) + 0.06 = 12.18% ... The original balance sheet reflects 10 percent debt and 90 percent equity. It may here be observed that companies in general tend to lessen their amounts of debts and increase equity amounts or make investments. In the long run in the business operations of any company, the concept of remaining free of debt may not pay well for the business profits. Instead it may be preferable to base a company’s capital structure on the cost of capital for the company. Thus, borrowing money for a long term and reinvesting the amounts in business projects is expected to generate profits for the company. Hence, an optimal structure may reflect on 30-40 percent of debt and the rest in equity for the firm (Kennon, 2011). c. A company may alter its capital structure and buy certain amounts of equity in exchange for new debt thus substituting debt for equity. This would not have any effect on the cost of capital of the company since the overall cost of capital employed does not change. The transac tion remains neutral both for the company as well as the investor (Vernimmen & Quiry, 2009, p.448). d. If a company uses too much of debt financing, then the financial condition of the company may be in a difficult situation. This is primarily because in the long run, the company may lose its value and that tends to increase the cost of capital of the firm. An optimal capital structure of a firm largely depends on the business risk of the firm; greater the risk higher is the possibility for the company to obtain its optimal capital structure (Drake & Fabozzi, 2010, p.178). Page 3 No.1 Solution: Assuming the cost of capital to be 10% and 12% the NPVs can be calculated on the costs and cash flows as given in the data. At 10%, NPV = $ 1102.98 At
Friday, July 26, 2019
Introduction to philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Introduction to philosophy - Essay Example It was believed that â€Å"neither water nor any other of the so-called elements, but some other indefinite (apeiron) nature, from which come to be all the heavens and the worlds in them†(Curd). The central theme of the discussion was the question of how the original element is related to the phenomena engendered by it. Heraclitus regards this problem in a majestic and yet paradoxical form. In his teaching, the role that belongs to the water, apeiron and air in the Milesians, is played by the fire - the element that caused a keen interest in all ancient cultures. As is known, fire is both a creative and destructive force that gives life and takes it away. Fire can live both in the hearth, warming human habitation, and in the form of a funeral pile representing the final of the human existence. Heraclitus who saw the fire as a supreme law governing the world recognized the duality of the fire (Curd). Similar to the moment when the flame warms the house and burns it, after his/her birth (i.e. finding a life), a man makes the first step towards death. Opposites are identical. Way up, according to Heraclitus, suggests that there is the way down. The consequence of such an identification of opposites becomes an idea of absolute variability and fluidity of life. Remarkably, even symbolically, that the alternative doctrine of Heraclitus appeared on the opposite edge of the He llenic world - in Italy. This theory was created by Pythagoreans. As well as other pre-Socratics, the Pythagoreans recognized the existence of arche as a fundamental principle of all things and phenomena, but their theory was particularly original, as they considered numbers as arche. â€Å"Pythagoreans conceived of nature as a structured system ordered by number†(Curd). The numbers express accurate and independent from any arbitrary ratio of quantities. To study and understand this or that phenomenon means to measure it. This
Thursday, July 25, 2019
The Main Role Of Corporate Accountability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
The Main Role Of Corporate Accountability - Essay Example It is emphasized that stakeholders are identified by their interests and all are considered to be intrinsically valuable. As a managerial tool, it recommends attitudes and practices and requires that attention is given to all legitimate stakeholders i.e. government, investors, political groups, suppliers, customers, communities, trade associates and employees. When the corporation takes responsibility for decisions that earn them profits in spite of their negative impact on degenerating environment, social and ethical issues their organizations/corporate have to be accountable. S ome corporations report voluntarily while others are obliged to thorough policies and regulations; traditionally corporate use the inputs of investors; employees and supplies to convert inputs to salable outputs which customers buy and return to the firm some capital benefits. A s evident in www.wikipendia.org, scholars that include Donaldson & Preston (1995), Mitchell, Agle and Wood (1997), Philips (2003) their supportive contributions that corporations should act both morally for operation and management of corporations.
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
E-commerce Strategy for Sport goods retailer Essay
E-commerce Strategy for Sport goods retailer - Essay Example Moreover, the plea and implementation of online shopping have been hampered by substandard Internet retail site design and purposes. While, historical patterns have not had adequate time to build up to forecast consumer shopping behavior (Asch, 2001). As Internet retail sales persist to enhance at a slower rate than expected, business practitioners and Internet practitioners alike are looking for the product kind that consumers will purchase from the Internet (Aspinwall, 2001). The preferences of customers for shopping on the Internet may be based on the product type, which will in turn affected the need to acquire the information of product easily and at reasonable price. Moreover, the motivations of the consumers' to purchase on the Internet may differ based on the features that Internet retailers provide online shopping such as website quality, product quality, service quality and product information. With respect to Internet business, the influence of website quality on purchase intentions and loyalty is based on a specific type of product. Describing the product classifications have a important impact on clients' choices for purchasing on the Internet, and the value they designate to the Internet retailers' characteristics. Even though it is always viewed as the kind of product b... These products will be available globally as the consumers may order online. The name of the website is Sports Unlimited. The buying decisions of the consumers are based on the products' descriptions like the image of the brand, dependability, accessibility and style of the company's service (Bakos, 1007). For example, the status and representation of an e-tailer may be presented in the product quality or representation of their brand. Sports Unlimited should recognize that buyers have different product type therefore Sports Unlimited should categorize its products through shopping goods and convenience. The price of the products can be secondary. Marketing Strategy Target Market Sports Unlimited is challenge of creating their target consumers based to their efforts to market their website (Bellenger and Korgaonkar, 1980). Since Sports Unlimited fully understands the responses of their consumers, this gives them a great advantage. As such, this online sports shop target market are the ones who spends a lot of time surfing the internet and does a lot of sports activities or they can be just simple sports fan like the NBA. The Four Ps of Marketing Product. The management of Sports Unlimited has initiated their product development approaches by marketing their present sports goods in a new market. Delivering these sports products globally and thereby grabbing some advance opportunities of expanding market penetration and market contribution (Bloch and Richins, 1983). By having their own website, Sports Unlimited had updated their models as sports good shop to offer the consumers what they need and what they desire, enhancing the sports shop's own-brand sports product which could be strategically
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Why College Football Should Be Banned Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Why College Football Should Be Banned - Essay Example â€Å"The Wall Street Journal reported. New Mexico State University's athletic department needed a 70% subsidy in 2009-2010, largely because Aggie football hasn't gotten to a bowl game in 51 years. Outside of Las Cruces, where New Mexico State is located, how many people even know that the school has a football program? None, except maybe for some savvy contestants on "Jeopardy." What purpose does it serve on a university campus? None.†(Why college football should be banned) Football is so popular that college presidents are cutting on other major sports to accommodate college football and this is extremely bad for the students, who are interested in varsity sports such as swimming, track and field events and so on. This goes to show that the authorities want college football to be one of the most popular sports in the country if it already is not. A lot of money is being spent on modern stadiums and even more on coaches who benefit heavily because they get a great pay package, where does the money come from? It comes from the fees paid by students who do not benefit even a wee bit out of all this. The author of the article also presents the several medical dangers involved in playing college football, repetitive hits to the body is arguably the most dangerous of all yet college football continues to thrive. To conclude it is fair to say that college football is risky, it does not help the students even a wee bit and this is exactly why it should be banned.
Walden and Transcendentalism Essay Example for Free
Walden and Transcendentalism Essay Henry Thoreau’s masterpiece, Walden or a Life in the Woods, shows the impact transcendentalism had on Thoreau’s worldview. Transcendentalism is a philosophy that asserts the primacy of the spiritual over the material. Transcendentalism puts the emphasis on spiritual growth and understanding as opposed to worldly pleasures. Thoreau’s idea of transcendentalism stressed the importance of nature and being close to nature. He believed that nature was a metaphor for spiritual enlightenment. A walk in the woods therefore was a search for spiritual enlightenment. One should look ‘through’ nature, not merely ‘at’ her. In Walden, Thoreau’s idea of transcendentalism is broken into three areas. The first is the importance of the spiritual world as opposed to material wants. He accentuates this idea by explaining how the physical world only exists so that souls can experience life to the fullest. Thoreau speaks a great deal about physical property in the first chapter, entitled â€Å"Economy†. He keeps a detailed record of the economic cost of his venture into the woods and explains to his readers his pity for the people who have numerous material possessions. Thoreau states, â€Å"When I have met an immigrant tottering under a bundle which contained his all†¦I have pitied him, not because that was his all, but because he had all that to carry. †[1] The second transcendentalism theme is the idea of individuality- the idea that an individual is unique and should act according to his personality and ideals. Individuality is a basic idea of the transcendentalists and they firmly believed that one should search for ‘self-discovery’. Thoreau observed, â€Å"Every man is the builder of a temple, called his body, to the god he worships, after a style purely his own, nor can he get off by hammering marble instead. †[2] He emphasized the â€Å"style†as an individual style, one that was distinctive to each person. He even told his readers in Walden that he went into the woods to search for knowledge and truth. Self-discovery and individuality were also attributed to any other characters in Walden that were mentioned. Thoreau takes great pains to describe each character, even down to the farmer’s â€Å"wrinkled, sibyl-like, cone-headed†[3] infant in chapter 10, â€Å"Baker Farm†. He makes sure his readers understand the unique attributes of each individual in his experiences. As Thoreau once said, â€Å"It is what a man thinks of himself that really determines his fate. †The final prominent transcendentalism theme expressed in Walden is the importance of experiences. Transcendentalists believed personal experience is how one learned. Literally, people learned everything the hard way. Thoreau demonstrated this clearly in the experiment of living in the woods for two years. He explains in Walden that he wanted to experience living simply for an extended period of time. Notice that Thoreau did not speculate, draw conclusions, or even ask someone who had tried it. The only way, in his mind, that he was going to learn about living simply was to undergo it personally. In speaking about life in the chapter, â€Å"Where I lived and What I Lived For†, Thoreau said,â€Å"†¦if [life] proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion. †[4] He emphasized living and feeling everything to be able to understand life and its meaning. Walden is often viewed as simply a proponent of environmental care and nature. However, it persuades the reader to do much more than take care of nature. In fact, nature is not even the most prominent ideal in Thoreau’s writings. The thesis of Walden is clearly stated in the first few pages of the book. Thoreau writes, â€Å"With respect to luxuries and comforts, the wisest have ever lived a more simple and meager life than the poor†¦None can be an impartial or wise observer of human life but from the vantage ground of what we should call voluntary poverty. †[5] The entirety of the â€Å"Economy†chapter is devoted to material possessions and Thoreau’s idea that the physical pleasures exist only to help the soul endure. Very little time is spent on the goodness of nature. When it is mentioned, it is shown, as was stated above, that nature serves as a sort of looking glass to spiritual ideals. Because this book was quoted often by radical groups in 1960-70, Walden became a sign of disobedience and rebellion to the conservative community. However, there are a few ideas of which Christians can approve. The first is non-materialism. Thoreau quotes Matthew 6:19 saying, â€Å"By a seeming fate, commonly called necessity, they are employed, as it says in an old book, laying up treasures which moth and rust will corrupt and thieves break through and steal. It is a fool’s life, as they will find when they get to the end of it, if not before. †[6] He takes great pains throughout the entire book to make sure his readers understand that material possessions should not be the only thing in which people place all of their happiness. The second idea Christians can applaud is the idea of individuality. As was mentioned above, Thoreau kept the Transcendentalist idea of a person’s individual worth in his writings. Because of this belief, he was one of the most outspoken human rights activists in his lifetime. He wrote A Plea for Captain John Brown supporting John Brown’s efforts to end slavery. Thoreau said, â€Å"I do not believe in erecting statues to those who still live in our hearts, whose bones have not yet crumbled in the earth around us, but I would rather see the statue of Captain Brown in the Massachusetts State-House yard, than that of any other man whom I know. I rejoice that I live in this age, that I am his contemporary. †[7] His belief in the basic human rights of every man stemmed from his support of individuality and the unique worth of every person on this planet. Even though there are a few ideas that Christians can applaud in Walden, there is one of which they should be wary. This idea is the idea that rebellion and disobedience towards government is acceptable if one believes the government is wrong. Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his eulogy for Thoreau, articulated this idea, saying that Thoreau opposed the government. Thoreau disrespected government officials by refusing to obey tax laws and paid for it by spending a brief time in jail. However, many people, instead of realizing the negative influence Thoreau was creating, idealized him for his ‘patriotic’ stance. Thoreau says in Walden, â€Å"One afternoon, near the end of the first summer†¦I was seized and put into jail, because, as I have elsewhere related I did not pay a tax to, or recognize the authority of, the state which buys and sells men, women, and children, like cattle at the door of its senate-house. †[8] He did not recognize the authority of the government because of the slavery in the country. Even though slavery is immoral, Romans 13:1 clearly states, â€Å"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. †[9] The Bible articulates that Christians must be subject to those whom God has placed into authority. Thoreau discourages this idea and instead institutes an attitude of rebellion. Christians should be cautious of this attitude and worldview. Very few instances occur in which Christians should rebel against authority. The only instance where they should rebel is under a government which demands that its citizens disobey God’s orders. Walden was written many years ago and yet, society can still learn from the author’s words. Whether the ideas are detrimental or helpful, everyone can agree that Thoreau was a strong Transcendentalist with a distinct mindset. This mindset affects everyone who reads his works. Emerson once articulated that Thoreau inspired many around him through his idealistic thinking. Thoreau has inspired, and will continue to inspire, numerous people through his book, Walden or a Life in the Woods. [1] Henry David Thoreau, Walden ; and Civil Disobedience (New York: Barnes and Nobles Classics, 2003), 56. [2] Henry David Thoreau, Walden ; and Civil Disobedience (New York: Barnes and Nobles Classics, 2003), 175. [3] Henry David Thoreau, Walden ; and Civil Disobedience (New York: Barnes and Nobles Classics, 2003), 161 [4] Henry David Thoreau, Walden ; and Civil Disobedience (New York: Barnes and Nobles Classics, 2003), 74 (brackets added) [5] Henry David Thoreau, Walden ; and Civil Disobedience (New York: Barnes and Nobles Classics, 2003), 16 [6] Henry David Thoreau, Walden ; and Civil Disobedience (New York: Barnes and Nobles Classics, 2003), 9 [7] ThoreauOn John Brown, Virginia Commonwealth University, http://www.vcu. edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/thoreau/johnbrown. html (accessed September 15, 2010). [8] Henry David Thoreau, Walden ; and Civil Disobedience (New York: Barnes and Nobles Classics, 2003), 137 [9] Passage: Romans 13:1 (ESV Bible Online), Good News / Crossway Home Christian Books, Gospel Tracts, and the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible, http://www. gnpcb. org/esv/search/? q=Romans 13:1 (accessed September 15, 2010).
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